National Tax and Customs Administration

Contents of aid consignments, authorisation

Aid consignments are exclusively aimed at providing medical, social, hygiene, accommodation, clothing, and other humanitarian assistance. Consignments may include goods that are commercially available in Hungary without authorisation, and which are suitable by their nature to assist and support people in distress as a result of the events in Ukraine. Examples include canned food, bandages, bedspreads, warm clothing or food. Aid consignments can also include goods for rescue and damage repair, even if they are not subject to authorisation from another country, such as fire engines or ambulances, which leave the territory of the European Union for Ukraine at the exit from Hungary. The aim of the transport must not be for commercial sale.

Animal foodstuff and livestock feed - including animal foodstuff and livestock to be sent to pets, animals kept in a shelter, circus animals or zoo animals as well - can be sent as an aid consignment, for humanitarian purposes, without veterinary or phytosanitary export certificate. The control and exit of humanitarian aid consignments is carried out by the NTCA units in an accelerated procedure, out of the normal procedures.

The export of military equipment capable of taking life or delivering lethal force to targets (in particular, rifles, carbines, pistols, ammunition, explosives), as well as firearms and ammunition for civilian use and equipment dangerous to public safety (knives, swords, bows) is prohibited.

Military equipment refers to products and technologies that can be used primarily for military, law enforcement and national security purposes. Under Hungarian legislation, weapons of fire are firearms and air weapons capable of firing solid projectiles with a muzzle energy of more than 7.5 joules.

Military equipment not capable of taking life or delivering lethal force to targets (e.g. flak jackets, helmets), dual-use items (e.g. drones), equipment dangerous to public safety (e.g. gas sprays, arrows), explosives for civil use (e.g. fuses, gunpowder), their parts and accessories may be exported to Ukraine as aid consignments upon presentation of a special authorisation from the competent authorities or a written customs declaration. For such products, the NTCA bodies carry out a goods inspection and verify the existence and content of the authorisations. Therefore, due to the inspections, a longer waiting time should be expected compared to the above-mentioned goods for humanitarian use.

More information on the authorisation process can be found here:

https://mkeh.gov.hu/haditechnika/haditechnikai-tevekenyseg

https://mkeh.gov.hu/haditechnika/kettos_felhasznalasu

Economic operators and organisations sending aid consignments are advised to contact the following organisational units of the Department for Trade, Military Technology, Export Control and Precious Metals Authentication of the Budapest Metropolitan Government Office, before the shipments are made, in order to establish any authorisation requirements.

For dual-use products

Export Control Division:

• telephone: 06-1-458-5599, 06-1-458-5879, 06-1-458-5807,
• e-mail: exportcontrol@bfkh.gov.hu.

For explosives for civil use and equipment dangerous to public safety

Trade Division:

• telephone: 06-1-458-5616, 06-1-458-5564, 06-1-458-5558,
• e-mail: keo@bfkh.gov.hu.

For military or military-related products

Military Technology Division:

• telephone: 06-1-458-5588, 06-1-458-5569, 06-1-458-5518,
• e-mail: armstrade@bfkh.gov.hu.

Bulk petroleum products to Ukraine as an aid consignment may be exported

• with customs documents,
• whereas with an excise licence and accompanying document, if transported under excise regulations. 

The export of prescription and non-prescription medicines as aid consignments can only be initiated in the possession of a certificate or authorisation issued based on a notification to the National Public Health and Pharmacy Centre (Hungarian abbreviation: NNGYK).

In the event of medicinal products of non-domestic origin that are transported in transit as aid consignments through the territory of Hungary to Ukraine the regulations of the pharmaceutical authority of the country of dispatch apply, they do not need to be notified to the NNGYK, and therefore do not need to have a certificate or authorisation issued by the NNGYK. If aid consignments are destined for Hungary (and are subsequently transported to Ukraine), the consignment must be notified to the NNGYK as described above.

To determine whether authorisations or certificates need to be submitted, it is recommended that economic operators and organisations sending aid consignments contact the NNGYK before shipments are made, using the following contact details:

• telephone: 06-1-886-9300, under the menu item ’general information’ (1812),
• e-mail: info@egeszsegvonal.gov.hu.

The export of veterinary pharmaceutical products is not subject to authorisation, and therefore, by analogy, it is not either, as a part of an aid consignment.

Please initiate the exit of aid consignments with due diligence, if possible, in consultation with the above authorities or with the Tax and Customs Directorate of the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Tax and Customs Directorate of the NTCA which operates the Hungarian-Ukrainian border offices.

The contact details of the border offices of the Directorate (Záhony, Beregsurány, Tiszabecs, Barabás, Lónya) can be found at the following address:

https://nav.gov.hu/igazgatosagok/igazgatosagok/Szabolcs_Szatmar_Bereg_megye

We also ask that the necessary authorisations and certificates are available on export or exit of products subject to authorisation or certification. If you have a written statement or information from the competent authorities (e.g. Budapest Metropolitan Government Office) - received by letter or e-mail - on the exemption from these requirements, please submit it with the procedure. This will significantly facilitate and speed up the customs control and the procedure.

Humanitarian aid consignments entered in the exemption register are neither subject to road tolls nor to any obligation to file tax returns. To register, please contact the 24-hour e-mail address of okf.fougyelet@katved.gov.hu.

The notification to the National Directorate General for Disaster Management, Ministry of the Interior shall include the following information:

• registration number and type of lorry;
• the weight of the lorry;
• driver's name and mobile number;
• from where to where the goods are being transported;
• intended point of entry and exit;
• planned time of entry and exit;
• main route of transport (list of main road sections);
• nature and description of the consignment.

Humanitarian aid consignments are also exempted from the truck stop rules if a declaration of exemption can be presented as a transport document. The declaration to be filled in can be found in Annex 4 to Government Decree No 190/2008 (29.VII.). 

Verbal declaration of exit at the border crossing point of exit

Aid consignments may be exported or forwarded by private persons, state or municipal organisations, NGOs performing charity, social or humanitarian tasks. The intention of export must be declared, irrespective of the value and weight limits, and that can happen orally as well. A verbal declaration is made when the supplier makes a verbal declaration on the consignment to the NTCA’s customs officer at the border crossing point, before leaving the country.

Companies and economic operators can also initiate the exit of aid consignments by means of a verbal declaration. However, in their case, for tax purposes, such as VAT returns and deductions, they may need to prove that the goods in the aid consignment have been exported, so it is advisable to make a written customs declaration of goods at the time of exit. This is not necessary if the aid consignment is made up of private donations from the company's employees.

Such aid consignments departed from a non-Union country (such as United Kingdom, Swiss Confederation) intended to Ukraine, the placing of which under a customs procedure upon entry into the territory of the EU took place in temporary admission, in addition to making an oral declaration of goods, also the exit of which to Ukraine may also be carried out under oral notification. In the case of a shipment initiated by a written declaration of goods by the customs office of entry, the exit takes place according to normal order, with the certificate on the declaration of goods, at the border crossing point of exit.

Exit of aid consignments on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border may take place as follows:

* passenger traffic means pedestrian and personal car traffic

Prior notification for accelerated exit

The smooth exit of aid consignments is facilitated by prior notification of the expected time of arrival of the consignments, the type and quantity of the cargo and the planned border crossing point. Notifications and questions can be addressed to the NTCA staff at the following contact details.

Information and prior notification of aid consignments:

• telephone 06-30/287-9203 on working days between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• e-mail from 0 to 24 hours: humanitarius@nav.gov.hu.

Entry of aid consignments into Ukraine

According to the information currently available from the Ukrainian authorities, aid consignments, both in passenger and freight traffic, must be accompanied by two documents:

• a gift or donation letter,
• an itemised note or list of items sent, in a legible and transparent form, without any formal restrictions.

To facilitate the entry of aid consignments offered, the Ukrainian Government has created the online platform https://customs.help.gov.ua/en/, where declarations can be submitted electronically.

According to the information received from the Government of Ukraine for the entry of the aid consignments the registration for the AHARS (Automated Humanitarian Aid Registration System) shall be made that will generate a unique code. But the part of the information may be submitted in paper form on a temporary basis until 1 April 2024.

Detailed information on the new electronic system can be found ob the website hereunder.

Digital mechanism for importing humanitarian aid to Ukraine to be launched on December 1 | Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (kmu.gov.ua)

This Communication replaces the Communication issued in this topic on 26 January 2024.

4 November 2024